Joint Waste Minimization Coordinator Conference Call and Sustainability Support Bi-monthly Conference Call Minutes from the Thursday, 1/27/00 Call

Kent and staff are trying to secure more money and personnel in FY 2000 and beyond by teaming with Mr. Huizenga and Dan Reicher on a P2/E2 Task Force approved by the Deputy Secretary. The Task Force will be assembled for a three-month time-frame and will be charged with identifying methods for the DOE Field Offices to use when trying to meet P2 and E2 goals with limited budget and staff. The Task Force has not been assembled at this point, but hopes are high that the team will meet soon.

In the meantime, Kent offered some hope to the field by explaining that a portion of the funds that were held back in the general reduction to the FY 2000 budget have been released (50%) and will be distributed to the field based upon the identification of critical P2 funding needs. Attached to the minutes is the memorandum from Kent explaining the critical needs identification process and examples of critical needs. These needs must be identified by February 15, 2000 and submitted to Greg McBrien.

Kent also stated that the FY 2001 budget will be administered through the Oakland Operations Office. Details will be forthcoming.

P2 Conference; Wrap-up of P2 in Cleanup, Stabilization and Decommissioning (CSD) Focus Track - Courtney Manrod - Courtney Manrod, Bechtel-Jacobs, Oak Ridge; 423-576-0146 pce@ornl.gov

The 1999 P2 conference was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico November 15-19, 1999. The conference theme was "Moving Towards a Pollution-Free DOE". There were seven focus tracks which included; energy efficiency and P2, P2 during cleanup and deconstruction, waste reduction, affirmative procurement, P2 in design, water efficiency, and reduction in air emissions. Information about the conference can still be found at http://p2.sandia.gov 

Courtney provided a brief synopsis of the Focus Track on P2 in CSD. The entire conference Focus Track write-ups can be found attached to these minutes. Courtney pointed out that the focus track was very well attended by a variety of site personnel. Many new faces were in attendance and brought forth fresh ideas and concepts. The goal of enhancing the incorporation of P2 and waste minimization into CSD activities was accomplished by discussing key opportunities, tools, and barriers which help or hinder the integration process. These points are highlighted in the attachment.

The recommendations will be used as a road map for future activities in the Sustainability Support area. Several recommendations have already been chosen for FY 2000 tasks.

P2 Assessment Update and Performance Bases Incentives - Lisa Burns (513-782-4686) lburns@theitgroup.com

Lisa reported that the Rocky Flats P2 Assessment Draft Report was issued in December and is being reviewed by the site. Comments will be addressed and the final report issued within the next several months. Carol Patnoe (Kaiser-Hill�s P2 Program Manager at Rocky Flats) discussed the hopes of a possible pilot project on the NoChar Petrobond Absorbent Polymer Treatment (identified in the P2 assessment report) for TRU-contaminated oils. Mound has successfully solidified tritiated oils, but has not tested the treatment on TRU-contaminated oils which have the potential for hydrogen gas generation. The logistics are being worked out between RF personnel, Mound, and the Large-scale Technology Demonstration Program (EM-50). Let Lisa know if you would like to have a copy of the final Rocky Flats report.

The next P2 assessment will be conducted on the Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor (BGRR) decommissioning project on February 23/24. The team has been assembled and includes DOE, contractor, commercial, and BNL personnel.

The reactor was in operation from 1950 - 1969 when it was deactivated. The BGRR was used as a science museum from 1977 - 1997. The BGRR was a graphite moderated, thermal-neutron, air-cooled research reactor. The original fuel was natural uranium and was changed to enriched uranium fuel-elements in the late 1950s. The power level of the reactor during the enriched fuel-loading was 20MWt. This reactor is a scale-up of Oak Ridge�s X-10 reactor.

The reactor is close to 50 years old and some degradation was found in the past. The canal facilities (where fuel-elements were shielded, stored, and prepared for shipment) had all of the radioactive equipment and piping removed and the contaminated water was pumped out, treated, and disposed. Loose contamination was also removed from accessible areas. Geo-membranes, soil grading, and paving of areas has been done in order to alleviate the spread of contamination. Decommissioning is being done to alleviate any further spread of contamination.

Materials and waste management will be one of the focus areas of the P2 assessment as well as segregation issues. Value engineering concepts will also be integral to the P2 assessment process. Cost/benefit analysis as well as a decision analysis (using criteria selected by the BGRR project team and assessment team) will be performed on each opportunity identified.

INEEL has expressed an interest in having a P2 assessment performed in late April or May of this year. Several potential focus areas are being discussed. One area may include the disposition of excess industrial building materials and landfill waste from the Test Area North, contaminated with chemicals, asbestos and very small amounts of radioactive contamination. A visit will be made within the next 2 months to decide on an assessment area. An expert team will be assembled at this time. Lisa will let the Sustainability Support contacts know what the focus of the assessment will be in order to identify potential team members.

Please let Greg or Lisa know if you are interested in having a P2 assessment done at your site this FY. A late summer/early fall assessment can still be scheduled.

Lisa also discussed the solicitation for examples of performance based incentives and contract language which incorporated P2/WMin into the contract award fee. The contract examples from across the DOE complex will be collected and developed into a resource document for sites to use during future ER and D&D contracting situations. These examples could be from large contract awards (such as the PBI�s used in the Bechtel Hanford Contract) or Basic Ordering Agreements. Sites will be asked to provide the name of the contracting officer, the process for incorporating the P2/WMin incentive/language, and the results.

This activity was one of the opportunities identified during the P2 conference Focus Track Sessions as a way to insure P2/WMin is included in all ER and D&D project executions.

Sustainability Support Success Stories - Greg McBrien (301-903-1385) gregory.mcbrien@em.doe.gov

Greg discussed the need to update and expand the 1995/1996 Case Study Database. The success stories/lessons learned have been a good reference for many project managers and project teams during the last 4 years. New case studies need to be documented and added to the database to expand the information and establish an on-going reference library for use during project planning activities. These success stories/case studies will be posted on the P2 in ER Web site.

Over the next several months, you will be asked to solicit success stories from your site from project managers and other personnel. Projects where primary waste volumes were reduced and/or recycled/reused and secondary wastes were reduced or eliminated should be identified for documentation. Project-specific cost savings and cost avoidance should be collected and verified as well.

Michael Kristich suggested that Sustainability Support personnel go to the Technology Information Exchange (TIE) Workshop site and respond to a very short survey on the usefullness of information exchange workshops.

Thanks for participating in the conference call. The minutes will be available on the Sustainability Support Web site at www.em.doe.gov/er We will schedule another call in March.

Call Participants:
Kent Hancock; EM-22
John Lum; EM-22
Greg McBrien; EM-22
Antanas Bindokas; DOE CH
Norine Brockman; DOE CH
Ana Gonzalez; DOE ORO
Anna Beard; DOE RL
Harish Sharma; DOE AL
Jamie Zeisloft; DOE RL
Carol Shelton; DOE Nevada
Tim Caulfield; DOE SRS
Lisa Allmon-Burns; IT Corp.
Courtney Manrod; Bechtel-Jacobs Oak Ridge
Alisa Rhodes; Fernald
Doug DuVon; Bechtel Hanford
Pete Segall; Hanford
Mitch Newman; Portsmouth Wastren
Chris Ischay; B&W Idaho
Cindy Dutro; IT Las Vegas
Jack Mizner; IT Sandia
Carol Patnoe; Kaiser Hill Rocky Flats
Tamar Krantz; Rocky Flats
Dave Jankee; INEEL
John Griffin; INEEL
Dave Brown; Kansas City Plant
Michael Kristich; EMS

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(800) 473-4375